Project Title

Author Names

Authors' Affiliations

Jesse Daniels, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.

Location

BAYS MTN. ROOM 125

Start Date

4-4-2018 2:20 PM

End Date

4-4-2018 2:35 PM

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Gerardo Arceo-Gomez

Faculty Sponsor's Department

Department of Biological Sciences

Type

Oral Presentation

Classification of First Author

Graduate Student-Master’s

Project's Category

Natural Sciences

Abstract Text

To date, 13168 plant species have been naturalized outside their native range. While invasive plants efficiently compete for resources, they can also disrupt vital mutualisms. Pollination is a crucial mutualism required for 87% of flowering plants to reproduce. Invasive species may disrupt patterns of pollinator visitation, pollen transfer dynamics (conspecific [CP] and heterospecific [HP]), and reproductive success. Furthermore, whether invasive species’ effects depend on scale (site vs. patch) is not known. Thus, it is critical to understand the effects of invasive plants at all stages of pollination and how those effects vary with scale. Here, I investigate pollinator visitation, CP and HP deposition, and pollen tube growth between local flowers in sites and plots invaded by Cirsium arvense. For 7 weeks (June-July), pollinator visits were recorded and styles collected from an invaded and non-invaded floral community. Styles were processed for fluorescent microscopy. The number and identity of pollen grains on stigmas and the number of pollen tubes at style bases were recorded. The invaded site received significantly less visits than the non-invaded site, but the effect varied by species. This variation is not explained by local species’ abundance or floral symmetry. Similarly, invaded plots received significantly less visits than non-invaded plots, and no plot-species interaction was found. The invaded site received more CP and HP while invaded plots received less CP and HP. There was no difference in pollen tube growth between sites or plots. My preliminary results suggest that C. arvense affects pollinator visitation and pollen transfer dynamics in local floral communities, but the effects vary depending on species and scale. Conversely, these effects do not seem to lead to differential reproductive success between invaded and non-invaded communities at any scale.

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To date, 13168 plant species have been naturalized outside their native range. While invasive plants efficiently compete for resources, they can also disrupt vital mutualisms. Pollination is a crucial mutualism required for 87% of flowering plants to reproduce. Invasive species may disrupt patterns of pollinator visitation, pollen transfer dynamics (conspecific [CP] and heterospecific [HP]), and reproductive success. Furthermore, whether invasive species’ effects depend on scale (site vs. patch) is not known. Thus, it is critical to understand the effects of invasive plants at all stages of pollination and how those effects vary with scale. Here, I investigate pollinator visitation, CP and HP deposition, and pollen tube growth between local flowers in sites and plots invaded by Cirsium arvense. For 7 weeks (June-July), pollinator visits were recorded and styles collected from an invaded and non-invaded floral community. Styles were processed for fluorescent microscopy. The number and identity of pollen grains on stigmas and the number of pollen tubes at style bases were recorded. The invaded site received significantly less visits than the non-invaded site, but the effect varied by species. This variation is not explained by local species’ abundance or floral symmetry. Similarly, invaded plots received significantly less visits than non-invaded plots, and no plot-species interaction was found. The invaded site received more CP and HP while invaded plots received less CP and HP. There was no difference in pollen tube growth between sites or plots. My preliminary results suggest that C. arvense affects pollinator visitation and pollen transfer dynamics in local floral communities, but the effects vary depending on species and scale. Conversely, these effects do not seem to lead to differential reproductive success between invaded and non-invaded communities at any scale.